10 Things I Know About You
by SilverCyanide
Summary: Based off of the LJ "20 Facts" challenge. Ten facts and their accompanying drablets about each character in the series. Note: editing in progress. Fic will start up again soon after a long hiatus.
1. I Open at the Close

First and foremost:

**Disclaimer: **I do _not_ own Prince of Tennis. Any recognizable names, trademarks, etc. belong to Konomi-sensei. The Rikkai naming system (i.e., Niou as 'Haru', Yukimura as 'Mura', Marui as 'Maru' and so on) belongs to the wonderful Sandileina. The title for this fic is blatantly stolen from the movie _10 Things I Hate About You_ and the idea is stolen from the Livejournal "20 Facts" meme/challenge. I have modified it to ten for the year, and for a few other reasons.

I do, however, own any Original Characters that appear in this fic. If you happen to want to use any of them (in particular a sibling? –shot-) feel free to do so but with proper credit.

**Now:**

What's that? The _third year in a row_ where I'm opening with an Author's Note that's against site guidelines?

Yeah, pretty much. It's a little lovely explanation note, though. Here's the rundown:

-This fic will be doing "ten facts" (and small related blurbs about them) for just about every character in the series. National Arc teams may or may not be done, it depends on whether I get around to _finally_ learning about them.

-This fic will be a mix of anime _and_ manga verse, though will probably stray more towards the anime side. There will also be a lot of what I suppose you could call 'personal insights' – that means there will be things with no proper "canon" back-up. Expect little hints to things from fanbooks and the like.

-Updated a few times a week, if my schedule is right. (Every four days? Something like that.)

-It's not necessary to read any of my other fics for this to make sense, but if you have read certain fics (especially _Every Day is a Holiday_) there may be certain aspects which you will find more entertaining than others.

-My goal for this fic is to try and keep it believably in character. That means more canon less fanon. That means breaking things like my OTP so that I can truly express how I view the characters regardless of my own personal biases. (Example: no matter how big of a shounen-ai fan I am, most of the characters in this fic will end up being written as straight, or with no mention of sexuality.)

-Because of the above there _will _be certain issues discussed in this story that can be considered controversial. Such topics as: _religion, sexuality (or lack thereof), gender identity disorder, mental disorders, family or child abuse, and other mature themes_ will be mentioned throughout.

- The ratings on these fics range from **K **to **T** unless otherwise specified. If I do happen to write anything worth an M rating, I will warn you.

So now, I present to you, though perhaps in less grandeur than last year: _10 Things I Know About You!_


	2. Echizen Ryoma

**Echizen Ryoma**

**1. His first memory was of tennis.**

He wasn't playing, because he couldn't even walk then; no, he was sitting on the couch of their small flat back in America. A match was on the screen and he was glued to it like a normal toddler was to Blue's Clues. The little ball went back and forth, back and forth, and his eyes flicked across the screen with its every movement. Outside his father was lying in the grass, one hand flipping pages in a dirty magazine and another bouncing a tennis ball in time to the one on the television, though the old man wasn't looking. If that wasn't a clue that the sport was going to dominate his life, Echizen doesn't know what is.

**2. It wasn't that he didn't like girls, he just chose to ignore them.**

In fact, Echizen was _well aware_ of girls. He was well aware of their assets too, and he was completely perfectly straight despite the teasing he got from Momo-senpai. He just chose to ignore them. After all, they were rather loud and squeaky most of the time. They demanded you give them attention and, if you didn't, they stormed off in a huff and expected you to devote _more_ of your time to them as you consoled them. It was far too messy for Echizen, and he knew very well that most of the time he spent playing tennis would be gone in favor of trying to keep a rabid female from biting his head off.

**3. Karupin was his "partner in crime".**

Though many people liked to think of him as an innocent little angel (especially his parents, though they denied this), he'd had a real prankster streak when he was younger. On more than one occasion Echizen had smuggled Karupin to school (or the cat had simply followed him) and the two of them had pulled a number of nefarious pranks. Even now, Echizen still got grief over the time in second grade the two of them had stolen the first graders' water colors and painted across the brand new carpeting in the Kindergarten wing during lunch break.

**4. He hated everything grape flavored except for Ponta**

Real grapes, grape candies, any other grape soda – absolutely _anything_ with grape in it Echizen refused to eat. (This had posed a number of concerns for his fangirls the first Christmas he'd been at Seigaku, because they'd bought him a large number of grape-flavored things after observing his Ponta addiction.) The only reason he'd tried the Ponta in the first place was that he'd been practically dying of thirst, it was nearly a hundred degrees out, and his water bottle had long since been drained. With his last bit of money, he pressed every button to find every selection sold out, except for that one. Disgruntled, he'd received the drink and – after finding it oddly refreshing – it had been the beautiful beginning to a life-long love.

**5. He had been offered the opportunity to go train professionally before he had even graduated middle school.**

The letter and phone call had come at the beginning of August, right before Nationals (because they were still good enough to make it, thank-you-very-much), informing him that he was being considered and that there would be a scout there. The day after, he'd received another phone call and a meeting had been set up. A scout who sounded suspiciously German asked him a number of questions before leaving his card and assuring Echizen that the deal was on. If he was to take it, he would have to fly in "immediately" (a load of lies, Echizen later found out from Tezuka), but the training and facilities were top notch and the idea was something he turned around and around in his mind over and over again, even after he had denied it.

**6. He had refused**

There were a number of reasons behind it, really. For one, his mother wanted him to continue with his studies. Though she had married a tennis man and knew even when her son was young that he was going to be one as well, she had set down the firm ground rules that he would get an education. Tennis didn't last forever, and it could end even sooner if one got injured, so she wanted to make sure he had a sound education to fall back on. ('Besides,' she had said, 'that way you won't end up like your father.' And there was much complaining from Nanjiroh.)

His father had also discouraged the idea, which had confused Echizen at first, but the old man had proven him wrong. "Why would you want to become uniform and boring?" the old man had asked one day as they were sitting out in the garden, Nanjiroh's attention divided. "You want t' go? Then go. But when the top competition has been watchin' you train day after day, you're not gonna be able to shock 'em, seishounen. You'll just become part of their project, instead of running up from behind and hurtling over the crowd."

The comment had sealed his decision.

**7. He considered Momo-senpai his best friend.**

And though he'd never actually voiced the loyalties to the spiky-haired boy a year his senior, he knew the teen knew. While he'd originally been a bit irritating, his more-than-confident aura bugging Echizen, the smaller boy knew that _he_ gave off the same one. They'd been competitive, but eventually they'd learned to collaborate. Perhaps it was that first doubles match on the street courts (and admitting to Momo, the first person aside from his parents who knew, that he'd never truly played doubles before) or perhaps it was the fact that he could con the boy into buying him burgers, but before Echizen had realized it the two of them hung out whenever free time was available, whether they were playing tennis or watching a movie or simply laughing over some stupid anime.

**8. His hat was a gift from his father**

He'd received it after winning his first junior tournament at the age of eight. Echizen had seen someone else there wearing one, someone older who wasn't in the tournament but who had displayed impressive tennis skills, and Echizen had fallen in love. He had his own fair share of caps, of course, but they were all fake despite their alleged brand-name-ness. This cap, though, he could tell was authentic, and so when his parents (read: mother, because his father had immediately told him after he won that he 'could have done better') had asked him what he wanted as a congratulations gift, he'd requested one of the same kind. The maker was Fila, his favorite, and it had taken his father ages and a number of contacts to find an authentic one, but once they'd tracked one down Echizen took it everywhere with him.

**9. He'd been thrilled when his parents told him they were moving back to Japan.**

He'd always embraced his heritage, spending far more time on his work for his once-weekly Japanese school classes than on his English or math lessons. The entire culture had fascinated him, and he was just as fluent in Japanese as he was in English growing up, if not more. When given the choice he always picked the Japanese option instead of the American for food, despite his father's complaining, and he had even smacked a classmate once in grade three for making a racial joke about Asians, despite the fact that the kid was one himself. The few times they'd gone back on short visits to see family, he'd treasured, and so though he'd masked his emotions when his parents told him they were moving, internally he'd lit up like a brand new Lite-Brite.

**10. He'd developed a less-than-healthy obsession with a number of tennis players.**

Though he'd hated admitting it, it was true. It had begun with his father, of course, and the goal of beating him. That goal had been pushed into his head – _beat_ into his head, he supposed he could say if he was feeling punny – for as long as he could remember. His father had always teased him about it, and so Echizen had set out to get the better of him. This obsessive nature had transferred to Tezuka the first time he ever played his captain on the courts in secret. The moment Atobe had defeated Tezuka had switched his obsession to the other, narcissistic teen, now that Echizen looked back at it what he had done during those times could probably have been considered stalking. He'd even developed a weird passion toward Rikkai's Junior Ace after his unfortunate match with the devil boy.


	3. Tezuka Kunimitsu

**Tezuka Kunimitsu**

**1. Tezuka held his family above all else.**

Perhaps it was the traditionalist values he was raised with, but in the world _he'd_ grown up in family took precedence over all else. The morals that had been hammered into him said that family was the most sacred of all gatherings, coming before friends or tennis or anything else Tezuka ever took interest in during his lifetime. He never objected to this teaching, because the old adage – _friends come and go but family is forever _– seemed to be incredibly true. (It was until he'd witnessed the harsh crack in the relationship between the Fuji brother's in his second year of middle school that he'd ever begun to doubt it.)

**2. He associated more closely with his grandparents than his parents.**

Which made sense, considering his grandparents had pretty much raised him. Not that his parents weren't good parents – they _were_ – and at 34 and 31 they were both well-adjusted enough to have a child. But the two of them had always been a bit flitty, his father always more adventurous and daring than his grandfather had cared for and his mother always following along with a light in her eye and a song in her heart. They were wonderful people, of course, and provided a sound support system should Tezuka ever have needed it, but there had been times – especially in his youngest days – where they'd both been busy with the trivial pursuits of their lives and his grandparents had sat down and taught him the ways of the world. His grandmother had died when he was three, and she was barely a twinkle in his eye when he had gotten older, but his grandfather's death when he was just beginning his second year of high school had taken a little piece of himself with it.

**3. He'd gotten right and properly wasted when he was fourteen in Germany.**

It wasn't like he had planned it, but he was known for not being the most social creature around the facilities, so in an effort to fix this a number of guys had been determined to take him out one night. While he didn't have an ID, he looked well and properly seventeen or so by that age (a feat that never managed to amaze people) and the waitress (who was trying quite hard to flirt with him) hadn't bothered to ask so much as his age. Before Tezuka could refuse, glasses had been placed on their table and, consequently, shoved down his throat. The result had been a stumbling, babbling mess; a large reservoir of bad pick up lines that his brain had stored from Momoshiro's constant screaming; and quite a lot of bodily fluids launching themselves in the bushes paired with a headache that dulled even the pain in his shoulder the morning after. While it wasn't one of his prouder moments (he never did tell his parents, and the only one who ever caught wind of it was Fuji after the other teen searched his cell phone and found the lone picture he had forgotten to delete) it was a moment nonetheless.

**4. He knew he'd consider Oishi his "best friend" within the first five minutes of their meeting.**

The other boy was reliable, and he didn't brag unnecessarily. He was a hard worker, but he was nice enough to approach Tezuka first; he didn't seem to find trouble with the silences that lapsed over them, and instead seemed content to sit in them when in Tezuka's presence instead of filling them with awkward, meaningless chatter. He didn't use words unnecessarily, he could get straight to the point and, as Tezuka later found out, he had the uncanny ability to read exactly what you were thinking – a fact Tezuka very much appreciated, because his ability to accurately word things was often off. But in the first five minutes, the thing that had sealed their friendship was one, timidly spoken line: "I'm Oishi Syuchiroh and I'm joining the tennis team too."

**5. He had an internal sarcastic monologue that ran longer than any tome he'd ever read.**

Perhaps it had developed as a coping skill, but whatever the reason it seemed to flair up quite often, a constant chatter in the back of his mind that made comments about anything and everything. There were times where it went quieter, of course, but it was always there, as much of a part of Tezuka as tennis and family. On more than one occasion, the "stoic" teen had needed to suppress his outer emotions so the hilarity of what was brewing internally didn't spill. And on days where his math teacher made a particularly stupid mistake on a fairly simple problem, or Momoshiro and Kaidoh went at each other before practice had even begun – those were the days where the sarcasm reached a special level of Snark that would probably have wounded even Fuji Syusuke.

**6. His logical streak went against his family's religion.**

While not a "specific" religion, the Tezuka family, like most Japanese, celebrated a syncretistic mix between Shino and Buddhism. The difference between his family and other Japanese families was how traditional they were, and just how often they made their way to a number of shrines. In the end, though, this didn't matter; despite his traditional upbringing, despite all of the tales of the kamigami, despite the weekend trips to the Shrines, all of the logical and rational things he'd observed in the world (and quite possibly influences from a friendship with Inui) left him conflicted between his spiritual upbringing and his empirical side. In the end, while he never entirely rejected the religious ideals, he never entirely accepted them either.

**7. Despite the inconvenience glasses posed, he couldn't wear contacts.**

He'd had glasses since he was a young child, longer than he could remember really, and he'd never one complained until he'd taken up tennis. While being able to see was all well and goodl, being able to see without having to worry whether the source of your vision was going to fly off of your face would have been much nicer. His family hadn't objected once he'd posed the idea, either, but the optometrist had: one look at his eyes and the man had said he was far too at risk for corneal neovascularization (something Tezuka had never even _heard_ of before) to be prescribed contacts. It'd been more than annoying at the time, but as he aged Tezuka learned to adjust his playing to fit his glasses (which had resulted in a number of spectacular though accidental tennis discoveries on his end) and they became just as much a part of him as the sport itself.

**8. He stopped keeping in touch with his teammates, but they never stopped keeping in touch with him.**

He would occasionally text them, and Oishi got a phone call or two, but for the most part Tezuka lost contact with all of his teammates and other people he considered friends when he went off to train. Not a single one of them ever lost contact with him, though. Even in his later years he got Christmas cards (because that was the fashion, apparently) from Eiji, a new red head seeming to join every photo as the family grew. Oishi sent him e-mails updating him on everyone's progress, even after they'd all left for University; Fuji sent photo collages of all sorts of things, related to him and not, just for the sake of it. Inui would spam up his inbox once or twice a month with documents full of data he had been collecting and other interesting facts he thought would be useful. Kawamura sent pictures as well, including those of his also-expanding family though the hair color was much less intense than all of the little Kikumarus running around. Kaidoh send a few messages here and there as well, updating his former-captain on his progress and where he and the rest of them were headed "now," even when "now" meant heading to the real world: He was the most sane of them all. Momoshiro only kept in touch because Echizen wouldn't; but eventually even Echizen came around, and the single text message from the boy – _Turn around _– had been all the better when it turned out they were finally able to play against each other again.

**9. Making the decision to train pro was the hardest one of his life.**

Knowing he wanted to wasn't the problem, of course. It'd been his dream since he'd first picked up the sport to train at a professional level, and being allowed to work on the thing he loved all day, every day – well, it was as heavenly as an offer got. But he wasn't stupid or filled with the naïve foolishness that accompanied so many and their dreams of the same aspiration: he knew very well the stresses this type of training had on one's body, and he knew _very_ well what it might do to _his_ body. Tezuka was incredibly self-aware (though some had speculated he wasn't; why else would he have gone so far as to push his shoulder to an almost unfixable point?) and he knew that it was only a matter of time until the ticking time bombs he'd lived with as injuries for almost all of his tennis career exploded. Figuring out whether he wanted to risk something that could leave him in constant pain for the rest of his life (not to mention dropping out of high school when the chances of him lasting past the age of twenty were sketchy) was one of the most mind-tearing decision he made his entire life.

**10. He never regretted it.**

Even when his shoulder, elbow, _and_ wrist crapped out at age 21, Tezuka never regretted taking the offer. It was a bit different from the normal high school and university experience, that was for sure, but the thrill of being out on a tennis court – the thrill of playing against truly good, truly _exhilarating_ opponents – was one he would never forget. Even now on a hot day he could step outside, close his eyes, and _hear_ the sound of the courts – of the ball pinging back and fourth – and smell the summer breeze and the sweat, and his adrenaline levels would spike as the entire experience of a match came flooding back to him. Every time this happened, he _knew_ it had been worth it, regardless of what anyone else said.


	4. Oishi Syuichiroh

**Oishi Syuchiroh**

**1. He took up tennis at his family's insistence.**

In an attempt to integrate him socially his family had done a small amount of research and created a list of activities they wanted him to join. He'd narrowed down the broad list quickly, and had wanted to cross tennis off too, but his parents insisted he take up a sport because it would be healthy, and so he'd reluctantly agreed. He had no idea that the initial practice he had trudged unwillingly to would affect the rest of his life so drastically.

**2. He worried so much because he _had_ to be.**

He was the older brother to a sister with congenital muscular dystrophy. She was different – obviously – and a lot of people (in particular young kids) didn't do 'different' very well. He took her to the park just down the block one afternoon when she was young, barely two (and he himself barely five), and he'd been having a lovely time trying to sort out the words in a new book he'd gotten (for he was an avid reader, despite is age) when he'd heard the wild yelps and squeals of pain. Looking up he found Saiko in the grass where he'd left her, surrounded by boys older than _both_ of them, probably grade-school-aged. One had her small arm caught in his hand, and though she tried to escape struggling was futile – not only was she a lot smaller than them to begin with, she couldn't even walk properly to begin with as her limbs didn't function normally. _'Freak,'_ one of them had spat out, and it had taken Oishi a lot of stone throwing and help from Sato-kun who lived next door before they could get her.

This occurrence had repeated itself over and over and over again, the "over" in the repetitive sentence and the quarter notes in the cello part of Pachelbel's Canon in D: it was the same situation no matter where she went, and while she'd grown up into a fine young lady who knew how to send a comeback that would send the opponent stumbling she would never have the ability to pack a physical punch. And, when in her kind of situation, that – quite unfortunately – was what really mattered.

**3. He had been painfully shy as a child.**

And without any real reason for this, either. He just never got along well with others – because they never tried to get along well with him. Oishi sat like the good boy he was, listening and following along with the teacher's instructions. He was perfect in that aspect. But the moment someone tried to talk to him, whether it be boy or girl, student or teacher, Oishi stammered a response that wasn't at all related, and went beet red from his neck to the tips of his ears.

**4. Eiji had scared him at first.**

The boy was a ball of energy, flitting here and jutting there without a care in the world. He was hyper and over the top and couldn't do _anything_ half-way. No, with Eiji it was all or nothing, a concept that scared Oishi right out of his skin. The boy had practically latched onto him when they first met, and while Oishi was a friendly person he wasn't a _touchy-feely_ person such as Eiji was. The number of panic attacks the acrobat had nearly caused them in their earlier years from all sorts of things (from doing downright dangerous things to interrupting in Oishi's life in little ways that bugged him for no reason other than the fact that they deviated from the norm) totaled up to a decent sum, but Oishi never regretted it.

**5. His first kiss was with the hyperactive redhead he called his best friend**

They had been in their second year of high school, hanging out after the last match of the first round of Kantou. It hadn't been particularly hard, and they had won, but there was a strange feeling lingering between them because there had been a moment there during the match – a moment where Eiji fell a bit more lopsided than usual and Oishi missed a return – and their connection had _broken_ and it had honestly scared Oishi more than anything in the past few years. They had recovered fine as a pair, but that night – alone in Eiji's room, all of the other Kikumaru siblings off at college or having moved on with their lives and any other members asleep – Eiji curled up near him. He pressed their bodies flat, nose touching and deep blue eyes looking into Oishi's green ones. They carried the simple message of reassurance, the confidence that he was still there, and that nothing was wrong. Then their lips met. It was for the briefest of moments, but as Eiji pulled back there was trust in his eyes that went further than anything Oishi had ever felt and slowly, carefully, with more fumbling than either of them would have liked, they kissed again.

**6. Tezuka's injuries were his initial reason for entertaining medical school.**

True, his uncle practiced medicine, but Oishi had never considered himself going into it until he'd spent more time around both his friend and his uncle. It wasn't until he had seen first hand what being in sports rehabilitation could do for a person – for the athlete, of course, but also for the attending physician who got to watch the honest glee spread across their patient's face when giving him the OK to train again – that Oishi considered he might go into the field in the future. And when he did, years later, knowing that he's helped someone recuperate so they can live their life to the fullest again and experience all of the thrills in their sport just as he used to do, it left him so fulfilled that even the years of school and the major debts he had piled up couldn't bring him down.

**7. Tezuka leaving to train without first telling him was on his list of "Top Five Most Painful Emotional Moments."**

There were very few people in the world Oishi was truly close to – though by his later years of junior high he was popular with a number of students and on a friendly basis with a large portion of the grade – but Tezuka Kunimitsu was one of them. They weren't friends in the traditional 'share-secrets-hang-out-gossip' kind of way everyone else seemed to be, but they shared key values in life and a simple philosophy – _hard work will get you where you need to be_ – and they'd had a very successful friendship of their own, unique kind from the moment they'd met. So when one of his _best friend's_ had gone off _half way across the world_ without _any_ timeline of when or _if_ he was coming back – and he hadn't even bothered to _tell _Oishi he was going? – well… as far as Oishi was concerned, he had every right to be upset.

That was the one and only time he _truly_ blew up at Tezuka, full-force rage coursing through him. The action left an emotional wound that took years to scar over, because it confirmed everything he feared about himself – that he wasn't worth being with – and it was something that, years later, Oishi never fully forgave Tezuka for.

**8. He was widely cultured in a variety of activities because of his sister.**

His parents wanted her to blend – because what parent _didn't?_ – and they'd sent Oishi along with her to all sorts of classes so that there would be someone around who understood her disability. (And, he had later realized, perhaps to try and help him bloom socially as well.) He'd been taken to a number of classes, and over time had learned the basics of swimming, ballet, jazz music composition, cello, origami, scrap booking, how to make five different simple recipes, knitting, and crocheting. Not a bad arrangement, if he did say so himself.

**9. He had a serious problem with panic disorder. **

He wasn't an agoraphobic, and he didn't have obsessive compulsive disorder as so many people liked to claim. People thought that because they had heard of these they were the _only_ disorders out there that caused him to freeze up, mind reeling in anxiety. The first time it had happened was in his first year of middle school, the day his seniors had smashed a tennis racket against Tezuka's arm and the other youth said he was going to quit. This was _Tezuka_ – one of his only friends at the time – and the thought of him being left alone in a crowd of strange people attempting to fit in was terrifying. His chest had tightened painfully, breath coming in shallow pants that had nothing to do with the drills he was performing, and it'd taken all of his effort to squeak out a _'may I please go to the water fountains, Yamato-buchou?'_ He'd collapsed against them, knees giving way and scraping across the harsh concrete.

When Eiji had found him, his scrapes had been bleeding sluggishly, but the pounding of blood in his ears as his heart rate overpowered him had kept Oishi from noticing. Eiji seemed to understand this and he waited – even though it meant extra laps after practice – until Oishi had recovered and was coherent again.

Though neither he nor the acrobat had known what had happened to him at the time, a few more occurrences and a trip to the school nurse cleared everything up.

**10. Eiji helped him through it.**

The redhead had helped explain to Oishi's parents exactly what it was the school nurse had told them, chatting happily as Oishi hyperventilated on the couch. He held his friend's hand when he waited in the office for his first appointment with a psychologist. He reminded him to take his medication and always kept a spare prescription with him after Oishi had had his first panic attack because he was afraid of forgetting his medicine for panic attacks. He let Oishi call him at any time of day (including the middle of the night more than once) and if Oishi was feeling particularly anxious Eiji had absolutely no problem hopping right over. They lived a good five minute walk, but if the boy sprinted it was two and though Oishi's bedroom was on the second floor Eiji was bouncy enough and flexible enough that he had mastered climbing the drainpipe his second time over. When anything that could even _possibly_ interfere came up Eiji dropped whatever he was doing to attend to his best friend; though most people didn't know it, the only way Oishi had gotten through his temporary term as captain in junior high was with a lot of string pulling and other proverbial acrobatics from the redhead, and a whole lot of late-night massages.

Even years later Eiji never hesitated to come over – a drive across Tokyo, at the _least_ – when Oishi needed anything, whether it be advice or a hug or simply someone to drown his sorrows with at the nearest bar.


	5. Kikumaru Eiji

**Kikumaru Eiji**

**1. He was a people pleaser. **

It was how he had been raised. Someone wants or needs something, you get it for them. Someone is upset? Make them feel better. He'd watched his siblings do it, and he'd watched other people do it, and as he grew up _he_ learned how to do it. It was one of the reasons he was so successful: he tailored his answers and critiques and hopes and dreams and aspirations to what a person wanted to hear at the time. Even if it wasn't always true.

**2. He'd taken up tennis to spite his family.**

In reality he'd been a gymnast, because his sisters had been. They'd all been good – it was in the Kikumaru genes. But as he got older it was revealed he had real potential; he could _go_ somewhere, they said. Make something out of himself in the competitive sport where there weren't enough guys. Even his parents began to pressure him into going further and one day, after a particularly brutal practice, he'd snapped: he stormed out of the gym, throwing items along the way, and declared he was never coming back to gymnastics again. It had been spiteful at the time, but his stubborn streak had lasted long enough to get him hooked on tennis, and that was all that mattered.

**3. He hated Tezuka for leaving them, because he hated Tezuka for hurting Oishi.**

Because, well… Oishi was his _best friend_, and he hated seeing someone like that – especially Oishi, who was the most kind, caring person he knew – absolutely _shattered_. He knew Tezuka had to do what he had to do, but a little heads up, even a simple _phone call_, beforehand could have resolved the entire resulting conflict, and left a lot of the anxiety Oishi experienced during that time somewhere far, far away never to be seen. Instead the captain had been selfish and not bothered, and the pieces that Eiji was left to pick up – the frazzled nerves he was left to calm – left a bitter taste in Eiji's mouth and a rage in his heart that never fully dissipated.

**4. He was incredibly aware of other people's feelings.**

Hyperaware, really. It was a bother, sometimes, because there were always times in life when he didn't need the misery of Suzuki-chan's recent breakup with her boyfriend wafting over him (he barely knew the girl!) but it was a good thing, too. With the intense sorrow he ended up feeling he also felt the joy of everyone around him, pooling into him and flowing. It was one of the reasons he was so energetic: he fed off of the positive energy far more than the negative, and even when everyone else was wiped he found a small smidge of it in _somebody_ and used it to produce a lot more in everybody else.

**5. He had a manipulative side bigger than Fuji's when need be.**

If only because _his_ manipulative streak was much less obvious. Fuji toyed with people, pushed them around like pieces on a chess board, but Eiji moved them as he would strings in an elaborate trap: delicately, and very slightly at a time. Yet, he still _did_, and though it could take a month for something to happen it _would_, in a way that was so flawlessly executed no one would have realized he'd influenced at all.

**6.** **When he had learned the dumpster was being removed he had actually cried.**

He knew it was stupid, but that piece of metal had meant a lot to him. It held a lot of memories from the previous three years, and even though he knew he would still have those with him he wouldn't have that special place any more. After all, that was the place he went when they lost. It was the place he went to when he couldn't deal with living in the same house as so many people. And while he later accepted that it was just an object, the fear his memories linked with it would fade was one that preyed on him for years.

**7. He had latched on to "O'chibi" because there were drawbacks to being the baby in his own life.**

He latched on to anyone younger, really, because he _was_ the baby in his family and it _was_ irritating to always be treated as such and never be allowed to do the babying. Sure, it was nice to be able to get things, but he always resented the extra protection put upon him, and once he'd been old enough to find someone he made sure to abuse the power. This came with the obvious teasing and glomping he pressured on to the younger boy, but it also came with the type of Brotherly Watching that Eiji had been subjected to his entire life as well. Because if all three of his siblings had gotten to do it he was _not_ going to be left out.

**8. He promised himself he wouldn't have a large family. **

Not because he didn't like children – on the contrary, he _loved_ them, even though they could be rather sticky at times. But growing up in a rather large family had taught him that siblings don't _always_ get along, aren't _always_ there, and that someone _always_ gets forgotten. He'd made himself a promise as early on as elementary school (one day when he'd been in a rather nasty fight with Satoki, one of his brothers) that he would never cause his children to go through the same thing.

**9. He'd broken the promise.**

He fell in love with a lovely woman and they'd progressed quite nicely. The first had been a surprised, but not unwelcome, and the second was planned. The third was also planned, though an early delivery, but they loved her all the same. He had planned on stopping then, but before he could bring the topic up Naemi-chan had given him _those _eyes and asked: "just one more?" So he'd agreed, reluctantly, because he knew being the fourth had its drawbacks just as much as being the first or second or third. As Fate decided, they were in for four and five and after that… well, after that Eiji didn't have the heart to say no, especially when they were already accidentally on the way. The last two – for twins was how they seemed to be rolling – were as lovely as ever, a pair of identical boys, and though they made sure to stop after that Eiji had – for a _very_ brief moment – entertained the idea of having an eighth so that they would be a complete tennis team, reserve included.

**10. He never backed down from a challenge.**

Gymnastics, tennis, schoolwork Becoming friends with Fuji, helping Oishi through his issues, helping Momo-chan with his family dilemmas. Nationals – five years in a row. Getting in to one of the top universities in Tokyo. Dating. _Graduating _one of the top universities in Tokyo. Marriage. Skyrocketing to the top of the financial firm he was working at. Child one. Quitting out of spunk and starting from scratch in the field of social work. Child two. Raising the money to bring supplies to Africa. Child three. Finding twelve teens _adoptive _– not just foster – homes in the twelve months of the year. Child four and child five, a rambunctious pair of twins. High school reunion. Staying in social work but also starting up his own business from home that revolved around marketing campaigns. Child six and child seven, another pair of twins as Fate would have it. Working, saving, paying for college and private high schools and sports of four different sorts – he made sure to do it all. It was just his nature.


	6. Fuji Syusuke

**Fuji Syusuke**

**1. He wore contacts**

And yes, they _were_ colored. He never admitted this to anyone, and even years later he kept up the pretense of perfectionist blue eyes. But the truth was he was nearly blind without them, and couldn't make out words from a foot away if they weren't in. The blue was ridiculously artificial as well (his family was _Japanese_, after all, there wasn't a blue-eyed gene in their family!) but his ability to pierce your soul with his gaze was _not_, and the contacts only added to the effect.

**2. He was an insomniac **

Not the "oh, I can't fall asleep until midnight" kind of "insomnia" that everyone around him complained about; no, Fuji Syusuke was an honest-to-God insomniac, the kind who spent days awake because he couldn't get sleep to come. It was painful and annoying, but eventually he found that tennis took the edge off and that, if nothing else, he could go out to the dark street courts down the block and work on his newest move at two in the morning.

**3. His passion in life was photography.**

He was good at everything, of course – he _was_ a genius, after all. But he had a certain knack for photography that was unlike his knack for anything else, even the sport he spent so much time on. The way he captured the light just so on a bunch of dewy grass blades or the way the sun silhouetted the busy Tokyo skyline – Fuji had a gift beyond all of his others for making it all come alive, no matter how truly dead it was. In comparison, the dead remained absolutely dead in his photos unless the message was meant otherwise: a vivid reminder of the reality of this aspect of life. And though he hated having to give this meaning, there was truth behind it, and he captured it with such vivid intensity that it never seemed wrong.

**4. He had an intense big brother complex**.

Which made sense, of course, when you had a younger brother who seemed to like to defy the odds. Born barely old enough to survive, Yuuta had struggled from day one and it had always been Syusuke's job to take care of him, to watch over him, and to make sure he was safe and sound no matter the risks. He'd rescued Yuuta a number of times as children, because Yuuta had a knack for getting into the worst kinds of trouble, and while they had still been young his brother had appreciated it. But then they'd both grown up, even if not by a lot, and suddenly Syusuke was cast in the shadows as Yuuta tried, once again, to shine on his own. It only intensified his protective, almost maternal instincts towards the younger boy, and when Yuuta decided to be rash and switch to a school half-way across Tokyo – well, to say Fuji had fought back tooth and nail would be an _understatement_.

**5. He'd become friends with Eiji so some of the attention would be diverted from him.**

Which, as bad as it sounded, was true. People always seemed to pick him out in a crowd, even if he didn't necessarily stand out, and pairing up with Eiji had just been _easy_. The boy was loud and slightly obnoxious and very, very good at making friends. He was also very, very good at attracting attention, and while Fuji didn't _appreciate_ excess attention he soon found out that it was almost always entirely directed at the redhead. This soon became more of a blessing than a curse, and there were whole hours at a time where Fuji could fade into the background and live a life of normalcy while Eiji went springing about and chattering on.

**6. He was horrendous in the kitchen.**

Despite common misconceptions, he truly couldn't cook to save his life. The few times he'd _attempted_ (if the atrocities produced could even be labeled 'attempts') he'd fallen completely and utterly flat, and the one and only time Eiji had let him help prepare dinner while he was over Fuji had ended up setting fire to a dishrag as well as their vegetables. The only way he'd passed the cooking portion of home economics was a number of very helpful girls who seemed to be so head-over-heels for him they would do his portion of the work and vouch for him as well. (He was, however, an _excellent_ seamstress, if one could call a male that.)

**7. He liked wasabi because he had trouble tasting so much else.**

Fuji didn't know why, but for some reason his taste buds seemed less responsive than everyone else's. He took almost no pleasure in sweet or tangy foods, got none of the enjoyment that citrus brought – but wasabi he understood. It was _there_: it had a presence, just like the decisive crisp of an apple (though, admittedly, he had no real clue what they tasted like), and wasabi was felt and identified right away no matter where it was or what it was in.

**8. It had taken every bit of mental willpower to pretend to enjoy Inui's Juices.**

Truth be told, he couldn't stand the wretched things, despite the fact that they were one of the few substances he was able to taste. He could, however, stand seeing innocent souls perish (figuratively, of course) in shock as they watched him enjoy them. It'd taken a vast amount of mental preparation, plus a lot of secret training during late hours of the night when he had nothing better do to (he managed to get a large supply from Inui with relative ease, seeing as the other student thought he _actually_ enjoyed the concoctions), but he'd done it. Slowly but surely Fuji had managed to learn that if you tipped your head just a _few_ degrees to the left you wouldn't taste it – at least, if you were Fuji and were defective to begin with – and that if you kept your eyes closed the worst was over before you knew it.

**9. He was an excellent gardener of all plants, but chose cacti because he empathized with them.**

They were bizarre little plants, after all, and most people tended to completely ignore them. Harsh on the outside, they seemed to give off an aura of "leave me alone" when all they really wanted was some love and attention, not unlike Fuji himself at times. When he'd taken up caring for them years and years ago he'd done it to relieve boredom, or so he told himself, but as time went on he became more immersed in them. He even went as far as talking to them daily, and though the rest of the world would have called him crazy if they knew, Fuji was more perceptive than that: he knew exactly the kind of understanding these odd desert plants had and they knew exactly why he cared for them, and _that_ was all that mattered.

**10. The smile _wasn't_ a coping mechanism.**

No matter how many people thought it was. In reality he wasn't nearly as suspicious or interesting as everyone seemed to make him out to be. There had been no abuse or trauma in his childhood; he had had a few troubles here and there in the friends department because of different mindsets, but he'd never been all together lonely; and yes, he was a genius and did suffer from the insanity of being stuck in an idiotic world, but he wasn't _unhappy_.

No, the smile was there because he enjoyed listening to people theorize about it. It gave him something to do in those excess hours that always seemed to plague him, and by the time he'd graduated University he had a list of unique ideas people had come up with about his smile longer than his thesis.


	7. Inui Sadaharu

**Inui Sadaharu**

**1. He was ridiculously antisocial.**

The kind of antisocial that had gotten his parents called into day care and during every single grade of elementary school. He refused to talk to anyone aside from teachers, and even then he only used stilted formal language and the fewest words possible. He'd been sent to the guidance counselor a number of times, but he'd never gone anything more than reply with monosyllabic "yes"s and "no"s and because his grades were unfalteringly high, the teachers eventually learned to cope with him. The one and only time he'd ever spoken more than a sentence to the woman with her spotless office and her clicking pen was when Renji had left with no warning, leaving Inui with all of the emotional baggage an only friendship carried.

**2. Tinkering was his release.**

Social pressures tended to add up throughout life, whether in nursery school or the real world, and being allowed to mess around with the world around him and attempt to create something new – it was refreshing. He'd first done it by creating a more functional toy truck out of spare parts lying around his room, but by the time he'd gotten to junior high school it was a serious addiction. Anything from crazy juices to model planes made out of scrap parts to homebuilt computers, Inui loved to mess around with them and see if he could get the puzzle _just_ right so that whatever he was creating would work, a spring to life full of bizarre lights, odd languages, and more than a few unseen colors.

**3. He was legally blind.**

With vision of 20/400 in his left eye and 20/300 in his right, Inui was blind as a proverbial bat – blinder, perhaps, because he didn't have sonar to help him navigate his way when he misplaced his glasses early in the morning. Without the lenses, he was wandering around in a fuzzy world of blurred, smooshed colors running together like a bunch of dripping watercolors. It was an all together irritating fact, but by the time he'd aged his glasses and concealed eyes had become so trademarked to him that the thought of getting contacts or laser corrective surgery were out. In the end, he'd stuck with the exact same lenses throughout his entire life, the only thing changing the prescription, and while he had done it on occasion the number of times he wore contacts his entire life could be counted on one hand.

**4. He was afraid of commitment.**

Perhaps it was because of how antisocial he was, or perhaps he was antisocial because he was afraid of commitment. Either way he hated joining things and hated making promises. He disliked people relying on him, even though he never failed to carry through: he hated the pressure. Initially joining the tennis team in elementary school had made him a nervous wreck, even _with_ Renji by his side, and joining the junior high school one had left his knees shaking and his palms sweaty for weeks. His friendships – few and far between, for the most part – suffered from this aspect of his character, and even in adulthood he had less than ten real friends. All other relationships reflected this part of him as well, and though it had always been a secret dream of his, he'd never married. He'd been too afraid to propose. Thrice.

**5. His parents had been relieved when he'd met Yanagi Renji.**

They loved their son dearly, of course, and were more than willing to allow him to make his own choices. They'd realized from a young age that he wasn't quite like everyone else – even as a baby, Inui had been particularly observant, always trying to look and touch and explore in places and concepts different than normal children. Despite this they wanted him to be happy, and while they weren't going to pressure him into socializing even _they_ knew the undeniable benefits of having a companion. When Yanagi had come along and the two had actually _gotten along_ it had been the miracle they'd been waiting for, and they wholeheartedly embraced the other youth despite his own quirks.

**6. Yanagi was his first and only friend until junior high. **

They'd met fairly young, placed in the same class during their third year of school, and they'd been inseparable. Inui had never met anyone who seemed to _get_ him like Renji did, if only because Renji was actually _capable_ of intelligent thought instead of asking him repeatedly whether or not he would like to go outside and play football or whether unicorns enjoyed eating carrots). But because he _did_ meet the other youth he no longer had to worry about adapting to a lower level of intelligence in order to play nicely with his peers as every authorial figure seemed to want him to. The pair had been entirely content in their world together, never following or leading but always side-by-side, and when Yanagi had left at the beginning of their fifth year of grammar school Inui had been left so lost and torn he hadn't even _bothered_ to try and socialize with anyone else.

It wasn't until junior high school when he joined the tennis team, something he did entirely for the hopes of someday seeing Renji again, that he made another friend. Or, rather, five.

**7. He had planned his entire future out from the age of seven. **

He was going to play tennis with Renji through high school, of course, that was a given that both of them had decided on when they first joined the team. He was going to attend either the University of Tokyo or the University of Cambridge and either obtain his Juris Doctorate (if he went with the former) or his Degree in either organic or pharmaceutical chemistry. During this time he would work on a number of inventions, which he would market off to companies for large sums in order to pay tuition fees and the costs of other inventions and experiments. Somewhere along the way he would meet a nice woman and settle down with a dog but no kids, and by the time he was old enough to retire he would have a sum saved large enough to last him four times over. He would spend the remained of his life in peace and tinker whenever he felt the urge to.

**8. All of the plans had been thrown out the window by his third year of high school.**

The tennis thing had never happened, though he did end up playing through high school with an entirely different set of people. He ended up going to Caltech on a full scholarship and majoring in bioengineering, his childish tinkering left behind for more serious work. He spent the majority of his life in a sterile lab behind closed doors and away from the rest of the world, monitoring bacteria cultures and how they affected the genomes of all living creatures, ranging from beetles to humans. Though he'd never officially been put on the report he had been a main contributor in advancing gene theory for the purpose of curing cancer. And though he'd met a number of women during his lifetime most of them boiled down to one night stands or two week flings; only a handful of meaningful women existed in his entire life – and he had been entirely too afraid to do anything about it.

**9. He'd drunk himself to death.**

He was barely forty, but the pressures of life had been adding up since his younger years and he felt double that. His lab work had been finished, his funding lost, his experiments set in a corner. Any breakthrough he made was stolen, another name tagged onto it and given credit where credit was not due. Relationships were a bust, whether romantic, friendship, familial, or peer-to-peer. He had nothing truly left for himself, nowhere to run and no one to run to, and one day his nightly ritual took hold more strongly, a possession that lost himself in the mix. The next morning he did not wake.

**10. He lived – and died – with no regrets. **

There were things he hated about the world and things he hated about himself. There were things he hated he did and there were always scenarios – _what if?_s – that flitted through his mind. But the rational side of him said that nothing could be changed, and that what had been done had been done: there was no use dwelling on the past, especially if it inhibited the short amount of time that life lasted. So, despite what he had done or said, Inui never truly _regretted_ a day in his life, a moment he shared, a breath from his mouth, a word from his lips. No matter the consequences.


	8. Kawamura Takashi

**Kawamura Takashi**

**1. His gentle nature was one of his best and worst aspects.**

The good thing about being quiet and kind was that you were approachable. While he didn't make _close_ friends all that easily, very few people had a problem with him simply because of something he had _done_. However, those that _did_ have a problem with him – especially those whose reasons were nothing more than that they enjoyed picking on the 'nice kid' – knew they could walk all over him, because he _was_ so nice. It was both a blessing and a curse, and many times – especially during his earlier years of school – he couldn't figure out which.

**2. He believed in true love**

He knew it was a stupid sappy thing, and the type of thing that even teenage girls had given up existed in the world. But he was absolutely positive it existed in the world, and no matter how many times he'd been laughed at for his ideas he made sure to stick to them. And, in the end no matter how many half-relationships he had it was _worth_ it because when he met _her_ and she _also_ believed in true love – well, he knew he'd been right all along.

**3. He gained confidence when holding something because he wasn't entirely defenseless.**

People often looked at him as though he had two heads when he went through his "change" from being the timid man he was to somebody much fiercer the moment something was handed to him. In reality, though, this stemmed for a number of occasions where he'd started out defenseless and a number of other occasions where, when he'd had something that could be used as a makeshift weapon in hand, he had not been bothered. It made _sense_ if you thought about it, really, and after the initial incident involving a bully's fist versus his chopstick in their arm, it was comforting to know _something_ could get people to back off.

**4. It was his idea to quit tennis after junior high.**

If his father had had his way, he _would _have continued playing. As it was, Kawamura had realized that if he was truly going to be serious about his future he needed to focus on his sushi training harder than he had in the past. It'd hurt to know he was going to give up a sport he loved, one of the reasons so many people – both friends and not – refused to believe that _he_ had been the one to make the decision to quit. Nonetheless, the thought of beginning what would be the rest of his life was exciting enough to make the transition positive.

**5. There was a part of him that really regretted giving up karate.**

It had been a large part of his life, and something he was truly passionate about. He loved tennis, he really did, but quitting karate had taken its toll on him. Hard. Still, every time he looked around the courts at his teammates, watched them warm up and joke with each other and run lap after lap to avoid Inui's "juice"… every time they headed to a competition and the atmosphere turned _fierce_ with the extreme competitiveness that permeated the air…

Every time that happened, every single day with his other hobby gone was worth it.

**6. He hated winter.**

It was a dreary time of year where everything seemed to slowdown and stop. Yes, there were holidays to enjoy and the cold weather meant you could cuddle up with someone you loved and have a nice time, but there was also the snow and the ice and the other awful weather conditions that you were met with during the season. No matter how great the cuddling (or other activities) may have been, the frigid winter wind one had to bear to get there wasn't worth it in the least.

**7. He struck up a bizarre but interesting friendship with Hyotei's Kabaji Munehiro that lasted throughout high school.**

It was really more of an accident than anything; he hadn't meant to, but the silence when they'd both been rather forcefully carted to the hospital had been awkward so he'd filled it with what was supposed to be meaningless chatter. Despite this fact the younger boy _actually responded_ and it was clear from the things he said that he was actually listening. Their light chat had ended in an exchange of contact information, and somehow over the rest of the year they'd ended up as friends. Even after Kawamura had quit playing tennis the younger boy kept him updated, and though neither had any idea how it happened they still exchanged emails and occasional phone calls well into their adult years.

**8. He was only ever close to a few people.**

Outside of his family, there were few people he was close with. He'd been acquaintances, with Akutsu, friends at best if you stretched it. Fuji had grown on him during junior high, and Kikumaru had a way of doing that to everyone as well. He'd developed a weird but nice friendship with Hyotei's Kabaji as well. Overall, though, the rest of the team hadn't entirely appealed to him, and by the time he'd moved on in high school he had friends such as Aizawa-kun and Ooka-kun and Taira-chan to talk to have serious discussions with. But though he'd met a number of nice people all over there were only a handful he would ever truly entertain as being friends.

**9. He barely graduated high school.**

And he didn't even bother with University. It made sense, though some people gave him weird looks about it: he was already being trained in the family business, and he was planning to partner and then take over once his father could no longer contribute. It was what had been planned for him for life doing what he loved to do. He'd begun working more and more hours during high school, too, and by his senior year he barely managed to pass math despite the fact that it had been his best subject at one point in time.

**10. He did what he loved every day of his post-grad life.**

Many people assumed he simply followed in his father's footsteps and took over the family business because he'd been pressured into it, but the truth was he _truly loved_ everything about it. He loved making sushi – watching the eyes of old businessmen and young children alike light up whenever he did something particularly out of the ordinary – and he loved serving people. He loved the restaurant from the atmosphere to the people to making the food and while there were some nights he worked late hours and some mornings he rose before dawn he loved every minute of it.


	9. Momoshiro Takeshi

**Momoshiro Takeshi**

**1. He'd initially been left-handed.**

When he was first learning to write teacher's had forced the pen into his right hand despite his natural dexterity with the left, so eventually he'd given up hope of writing with the left and learned to cope with the right. When he took up tennis, he'd begun playing with his left in hopes that it would work better – which it did – but almost as soon as he started playing, he had an unfortunate run-in with another boy at school. The result had been a severely broken left wrist, and by the time all three of the bones had healed properly and Momo had been given the okay to play with that arm, he'd been playing with his right arm for long enough that he was comfortable with it.

**2. He had been incredibly upset when his family had moved from Kyushu to Tokyo.**

It wasn't that he hated Tokyo; on the contrary, he had made some of the best friends of his life during his years there, and it was there that he ended up spending most of his life after his family's initial move. But the sun, the heat beating down on him comfortably during almost the entire year, the scenery (especially Sakurajima) and of course the _sea_ – those were the things he lived for, especially as a child, and it had been heart wrenching to pull himself away from that.

**3. He hated being the oldest sibling.**

He loved young children, and they loved him, but the responsibility of looking after two _ridiculously_ pretentious and stubborn brats was not something he enjoyed, especially not when it interfere with his actual _life_. Not just his social life but his tennis and his grades as well had begun slipping once he'd been forced to stay home and look after them, and it was a major bother. His only luck had come disguised as trouble when Keiko had _demanded_ that she was old enough to remain home by herself and that Hikaru wasn't going to burn the house down; her ultimatum (and her promise not to tell their parents, because it worked out in _her_ favor as well) had been what gave him a number of aspects of his life – including tennis – back during high school.

**4. He hated being "short".**

He wasn't _actually_ short, of course; 170 centimeters – or approximately five foot seven – wasn't nearly as short as he could have been at thirteen. But it was ridiculously annoying to be the third shortest Regular, only out-shorted by Fuji-senpai and Echizen. Sure, it wasn't by _much_, just a centimeter or two on some occasions, but the others – particularly Kaidoh – never failed to rub it in, and whenever Inui-senpai brought up _Echizen_'s height-increasing training plan there were sniggers broken out at the fact that the smash specialist was one of the shortest on their team.

**5. He was a summer person.**

The glaring sun beating down on your cotton-covered back, sweat having soaked through it long ago in an attempt to cool you down. The grass, parched and sizzling from the dry heat. Gasping for breaths as the humidity rolled in, wave after wave of it engulfing you and drowning you. Lying inside at noon when the sun was highest, sitting in front of the air conditioner with your friends and not caring if the house smelled like sweat and other unpleasant odors. Jumping into a lake, clothes still on, because you _could_ without freezing your ass off when you got out. Buying popsicles before dinner to cool off and being caught despite throwing away the wrappers because your tongue and lips were stained a bright cherry red or dark purple grape. The evenings, when everything settled and you could sit outside and enjoy the setting sun, the light dashing from the sky and streaking it with an assortment of blurred, beautiful hues.

Momoshiro loved everything about summer, even the parts other people considered negative, and that would never, _ever_ change.

**6. He had a bizarre but tentative friendship with Kaidoh Karou.**

They weren't all buddy-buddy like people thought friends were supposed to be, but the rivalry that existed between them was far less hostile than most people assumed. It was competitive, yes, but there was also a friendly aspect to it that appeared quite obviously if you paid any attention to their interactions. Though they'd begun as simple rivals their relationship had developed in to more, until they even had their own inside jokes, a hand signal (not a shake, though, because that sounded far too, well… _gay_, in Momo's opinion), and had incorporated themselves into each other's weekly routine.

**7. He spent a ridiculous amount of time on his hair every morning. **

Far too long to be considered healthy, and he as never going to reveal just how long it was. Even Inui had never officially figured out the proper time it took him to do his hair, though he had gotten incredibly close a few times, and Momo made sure he never, ever get his hands on that particular information.

**8. Eiji-senpai had saved him from himself. **

Though he hated admitting it, the truth of the matter was he'd gone through a rather nasty bought of depression that hit its hardest when he was first transitioning into high school. It'd gotten to the point where he'd even avoided his hyperactive upperclassman, but when Eiji-senpai came looking for him one day after he'd ditched out on practice (_again_, he'd mentally berated himself though he didn't truly care) the other teen didn't have any of the harsh words or scolding tones Momo had expected. Instead, he'd sat down next to him in the empty classroom overlooking the courts and asked him what was wrong before waiting, just _waiting_ there with him. Momo hadn't told at first, but eventually everything poured out – grades, tennis, his siblings' issues, his parents fighting, and his own emotional insecurities. Eiji had countered by pulling him into a true hug and telling him very surely that it would all be okay in the end. Momo hadn't believed him, but then his senpai had begun showing up everywhere with small messages of encouragement and the darkness – some of it even life threatening – began to lift until there wasn't a cloud in Momo's mental sky. All because of one caring person.

**9. He was friends with everyone, but only ever told important things to Eiji-senpai and Echizen.**

The first because he was older and had approached Momo first; he'd gained the younger boy's trust by sharing his own secrets, and Momo had – in turn – shared his. It wasn't comfortable by any means, but it was reassuring to know that there was someone there he could call at two in the morning when he had been woken by the sound of screaming from downstairs or by his younger sister crying next door when she'd gotten herself knocked up in her second year of junior high. Echizen, he went to because the younger boy had no one _to_ tell about Momo's secrets, and he was "anti-social" enough (though Momo knew this was a fallacy) not to need to tell them. The younger teen took things in stride and handled every situation bizarrely well, no matter what he'd just been told; that, and he never made judgmental comments, just nodded at the right places or stayed entirely silent when Momo lay next to him on the pavement after a particularly difficult practice match and vented about the complications in his life.

**10. He'd gone into teaching.**

Nobody had really expected him to, mainly because everybody seemed to think he hated school. The truth was, while they could get annoying, he was great with kids and he had a weird passion for math that compelled him to further study it. He was rubbish at a lot of other things that certain math careers required him to use, but he had a friendly personality and a knack for keeping the attention of those around him. So, the fact that he had gone into teaching his favorite subject during school – and at his alma mater, no less – wasn't that much of a surprise once everyone thought about it.


	10. Kaidoh Kaoru

**Kaidoh Kaoru**

**1. Tennis had started as a side project.**

His initial sports passion had been running, and though he'd never officially taken it up through school, Kaidoh had begun training for marathons in his fifth year of elementary school. Joining the tennis team had really been done after his math teacher's pressuring, saying that he could succeed since he already had the endurance, and though he'd given in reluctantly at first his love for the sport had grown exponentially.

**2. He was only friends with girls up until middle school.**

And not even because he liked girls. In fact, he found them far too frilly and giggly for his own tastes. But they were less irritating than the guys, who always felt the need to instigate stupid conflicts. (Something he later found interest in, oddly enough.) The girls also tended to be brighter, especially at that age, where guys seemed to get progressively dumber as a lead-up to puberty, and so though Kaidoh didn't _enjoy_ their constant presence it got the teachers off of his back about being social and kept him on the smarter side of the scale.

**3. He loved animals because they loved unconditionally.**

If you showed them the right kind of care they would come to you regardless of appearance. As long as you had a good heart, a kind personality, and a hand full of food, they didn't judge or run away, and Kaidoh cherished that above all else.

**4. He'd started collecting bandanas in first grade.**

His very first one was black with a white teardrop pattern, used to tie his abnormally long hair back from his face when he was playing outside. The girls he hung out with had giggled and fawned over the quickly developing habit and one holiday season he'd received a vast number of them. Before Kaidoh realized it, the bandanas had begun to pile up, and by the time he graduated high school he had a collection of well over 200 different bandanas that he rotated in and out depending on his mood and the season.

**5. He really had no affinity for reptiles.**

In fact, his nickname had been entirely fan-created, and his shots entirely fan-named. He was perfectly content just referring to his "snake" as a buggy-whip but then Eiji-senpai had jumped in, as had Inui-senpai, and suddenly his move had a name and it belonged to him along with the telltale "Mamushi" that he so despised. No matter how hard he'd tried to get rid of the nickname later in life, it never entirely left him and – even years later, when he had his own family and a nice, stable job – Momoshiro still made sure to address him by the despised name on yearly holiday card exchanges or in the few emails they wrote. Just for old times sake.

**6. He and his brother rarely fought.**

Though normal siblings, especially a pair of brother's so close in age, fought, there were very few times in their entire life that Kaidoh and Hazue had. Though only two years apart they were always courteous to each other and if one had a subject of disdain to bring up with the other they made sure to approach it with caution and present it in a respectable manner. Though no one seemed to believe this, it was true, and their respectable relationship continued through their entire life, including childhood, adolescence, and adulthood.

**7. He ironed his own clothes every morning. **

It was something he'd learned from a young age simply out of _interest_. After all, he had always been taught looking presentable was nice and it was an easy connection that ironing clothes helped you look presentable. While his mother had helped him at first, by midway through elementary school he was ironing his own clothes every morning and the habit never ceased, even in adulthood.

Despite all of this, his mother still made his lunch every day of his K-12 career, and his wife after that.

**8. He was a haphephobiac.**

He knew it was an absolutely _stupid_ thing to be afraid of, but for some unexplainable reason a large amount of anxiety plagued him whenever anyone clung to him. Small touches – bumps in the hall, a hand accidentally brushing past – he could stand, but the first time Eiji-senpai had glomped him and honestly _clung,_ he had been half a second away from a full-blown panic attack in the middle of practice.

**9. He'd stayed close to tennis.**

Despite the fact that his career path had been another typical office-related job, Kaidoh had still managed to stay close to tennis. He was one of the only members of Seigaku to play seriously in University, and the only one who didn't go pro who still played after University. Though he didn't play every day he made sure to at least once a week, making friends with the owner of a nearby tennis club, and though the early-morning runs of his adolescence had been replaced by early-morning snuggles with his wife and two sons, Kaidoh never stopped playing.

**10. His habit of always respecting those older than him had never been broken.**

Though he had been told many times that an age difference of a year or two was not a big deal, even in the workplace, Kaidoh always bowed to his elders. He used the most respectful honorifics possible, and though it helped him gain respect there were some - mainly the younger generation, who didn't seem to understand the importance of proper politeness – who took it as a sign of weakness. Regardless, Kaidoh never broke the rule.

It was only after he had been directly told by an old acquaintance, in a more amused tone than anything that "these men are your elders by virtue of simply being older, but do you mean to bow your heads to them all your lives?" had he even _considered_ changing.


	11. Arai Masashi

**Arai Masashi**

**1. He was always trying to prove his worth because it was the only thing he knew how to do.**

His entire childhood had been composed of competing in everything from bowling to American football in hopes of pleasing his father. He had never once succeeded, never _once_ met the standards his father set because if he _did_ then his father would simply up the standard until it was too high for him to reach. It was a pressure pushed on him so greatly that it became a key factor in shaping his future, and no matter how hard he tried to break out of that mold, he never entirely succeeded. Just like everything else he tried to do.

**2. He loved his baby half-sister.**

Out of all of his siblings, she was the youngest; Arai was the second, with his elder sister (29 during his second year of middle school) and his older brother (24) above him. Both of his older siblings couldn't have cared less for him, even when they _did_ live together, and though they knew what went on in the house neither of them ever bothered to care for him. Arai was fine with this, really (though perhaps a bit bitter about it, when he looked back), because he was able to take care of himself fine from a young age; but when Maiko-chan was born in his first year of junior high, Arai made sure to do everything in his power to protect _her_ from the injustices of the world unlike his siblings had done for him.

**3. He had started tennis all by himself.**

It was the one extracurricular activity he had started up out of his _own_ want rather than his father's; in fact, it was more at the insistence of the few people he was friends with, mainly Ikeda and Hayashi. Regardless, though, it was at _his_ will and _his_ will alone – it was the one thing he strove for in life that was free of his father's influence.

That had all changed when he'd left his rackets lying out in his room after a particularly gruesome practice one day: Then, suddenly, it was entirely his father's business and not making the Regulars didn't just mean he wasn't skilled enough in tennis it meant he wasn't good enough in life.

**4. He was terrible at math but fantastic at chemistry.**

Solving for "x" had never been made much sense – after all, it was a letter, not a number! But suddenly "x" became Ca or Na or K or Sb or any other symbol for a compound that had concrete properties behind it and Arai could do all of the math he needed. From the number of molecules to the number of moles needed to accurately complete a reaction to the percent yield to how many bonds would be needed in the complex chain of organic reactions, it made _sense_. Arai had absolutely no idea why, but he knew it did, and that was what mattered.

**5. He resented Momoshiro Takeshi.**

The other teen was everything Arai _wasn't_, from the charming smile to the dashing good looks to the personality that swept girls and guys alike off of their feet and entranced them in his spell. He was smart for the most part, too, with nearly perfect marks in math, and above all he was a Regular. Not to mention he had two wonderful siblings and – from what it sounded, from his boastful stories during daily break – two supportive parents as well. Overall, Momoshiro had everything Arai had ever craved and Arai hated him their entire school career because of it.

**6. He was ridiculously allergic to shellfish. **

A fact that had been discovered at his cousin's eighth birthday party. He'd eaten some for the first time ever, after being thoroughly convinced by a number of people that they wouldn't hurt him, and his face had puffed up immediately and required an emergency trip to the hospital. It was messy and painful and, worst of all, he had been blamed for the next four years for "stealing the spotlight" off of the older boy because he was "uncaring" and "self-centered", two comments Arai never forgot.

**7. He had a secret obsession with princess anime.**

It was something no one ever knew, but he watched it like Echizen watched tennis. He had initially begun watching it when he was taking care of Maiko-chan, because she enjoyed it, but over time he found himself drawn to it and before he could quit he was already neck-deep in the entrancing romance and drama that were essential to its popularity. By the time Arai realized he'd developed an affinity for them, it had turned in to an addiction he had to tune in every week to find out what happened, regardless of whether he wanted to or not.

**8. He worked two or more jobs consistently from junior high and onwards.**

Initially it was as a grocery bagger and waiting at a small café; then as a sales clerk at a pet shop and as well as his grocery bagging job. He picked up neighborhood chores more during high school as well, but by the time he was in University he had moved on to a position as a sales clerk at a hardware store and waiting at a catering service, giving extra tutoring in chemistry to classmates for free. Once he graduated he'd also added library attendant and cleaning staff to his resume, and though directly out of school he managed to find a position in real estate as an intern almost instantly; though it wasn't his dream position, he did it well enough and it grew on him as time passed. Despite the fact that the pay wasn't bad at all, Arai still made sure to hold a consistent second job – normally the night shift on a cleaning staff, but there were many positions that filled in here – _just in case._

**9. He had a serious alcohol addiction.**

It had started in his first year of University – before that, he had still lived at home and had made a promise to himself to never be wasted in front of his youngest sibling. Once he had finally moved out, though, he'd taken a drink – _just one_ he had told himself – and the bottle was love at first sip. The intoxicating liquid had consumed him and though there was a part of him that resented taking it up in the first place his entire life, he couldn't – wouldn't – stop.

**10. He spent his entire life seeking love without knowing what it was.**

He had some idea, or thought he did – everyone thought they did, after all, what with the concept being so wide-spread and all-encompassed by the media. Even from a young age Arai had sought love, though initially familial. Later on he searched for it with people he knew, in particular in a romantic way. But when he finally found it in his mid-thirties – when it _finally_ hit him – it came on with such an intensity and such a different feeling than Arai had expected that he realized he'd been looking in all of the wrong places and using all the wrong tactics at all the wrong times. It was a mistake he never made again.


	12. Horio Satoshi

**Horio Satoshi**

**1. He was dyslexic.**

It was irritating at the best of times and downright threatening at the worst. In school it had been a nuisance, sometimes writing numbers or kanji backwards until his teacher had begun editing his papers much more severely than his classmates, large red words telling him that he wasn't making any improvements and that he would need to be held back if he didn't continue. Horio had put up with it the best that he could, and trudged along with barely passing marks despite all of this, enduring the teasing from both male and female classmates alike over the mistake he'd made when called to the board though it was no more severe than on someone else had. In his later years, though, especially once he'd hit eighteen and begun driving, it had become a serious problem and though no one believed him, the car accident that had ended everything good for him had been caused by confusion over which way he was turning as the sign's characters twisted itself more ways than should have been possible.

**2. He adored his cousin. **

Though the gap between 12 and 21 was immense, Junpei was one of the few people Horio had ever been able to talk to. They were alike in aspirations and alike in personality, though that wasn't always the best thing, and his cousin was the only person in the world Horio could ever truly talk to. Sure, he had a few friends here and there but it was Junpei who he could call at half past one in the morning and expect to pick up, Junpei who would listen patiently to his troubles before doling out the best advice he had, Junpei who came to his aid when he really needed it. Horio not only appreciated, but secretly adored his older cousin for everything that he did – because nobody else would.

**3. He knew he would never be good enough. **

He had never quite measured up to the standards society set. He was never the best, never even _second_ best, but somewhere near the middle-end of society with his meager list of achievements. No matter how hard Horio tried, he was never fast enough, strong enough, smart enough – _good_ enough, and it killed him every step of the way.

**4. That didn't stop him from trying.**

He knew he would never be good enough – it was something Fate had set in stone for him from a young age. But he tried to beat it out anyway. He studied his butt off for every test he had to take, regardless of the fact that it never seemed to make a difference, did all of his homework perfectly, tried out for the tennis team and stuck with it even though he barely made a regulars position by his senior year of junior high school and didn't make it once while actually _in_ high school. In life he was fired or laid off or not even accepted into a position. He was rejected from most of the universities he applied to, barely made it into the one that he went to, and was left to fend for himself job after job after job. But he continued coming back to spite the world, no matter how much they wanted to reject him, and that was what mattered.

**5. He didn't mean to be a nuisance, he just was.**

He knew he was loud and he knew he was obnoxious. It was no secret to him, and he was far more self-aware than most people realized; there were many nights he barely slept because he was running through all of the idiotic things he'd accidentally said or done that day without properly thinking them through. Despite all of this, Horio was still an impulsive person by nature and no matter how hard he tried to change and become less annoying he never truly managed to.

**6. He was teased mercilessly as a child.**

Initially it was for his looks – his unibrow, his large ears, his oddly shaped face, his weird mouth. Later it was for his intelligence – he was slow or dumb or just plain retarded according to many people, mostly children who were not yet away of the caustic effect their words had on him. The only reason it had stopped in his later years was because he had taken some form of control and learned to laugh at himself unfairly in order to mask the hurt, a coping skill that was both unpleasant but required.

**7. He lost everything by the time he was thirty-five.**

His wife had divorced him and run off with both of their children to who-knew-where years previous, his parents had left the country and sent absolutely no notification that they were all right, every job he had fired him within the first three months. Horio could deal with this, though, if it hadn't been for the car crash. He couldn't even remember it clearly any more, just knew there were lights and sirens and words twisting in odd directions and the copper scent of blood somewhere mixed in, and when he'd come to the two most life-changing blows had been delivered on him: he was paralyzed from the waist down, and his brother had been killed on impact. It was nearly the end of him.

**8. He loved his children up to the day he died.**

He'd gotten married young, right out of University to a woman who he loved though she didn't love him. He had promised he would provide for her, though, and she seemed to think that was good enough because she'd stayed with him for ten years, two beautiful children had nothing but his eyes produced. Then she had sprung the divorce on him without a single warning, taking both of his kids with her and giving him absolutely no visitation rights. Despite this he sent cards and gifts every Christmas and birthday, though he was never sure if they made it through, and whenever she _did_ let him see them – on those rare, rare occasions – he would document them with picture after picture after picture so he could savor them during the normal moments when he was entirely alone.

**9. There were times where he regretted being alive.**

His parents tended to leave him to fend for himself, working odd hours and only leaving a few bills with not even a note behind. There were times they went away, sometimes for even weeks at a time, and left him to tend to himself. He was never the best at anything, never ever very _good_ at anything, and so his presence had never ever truly been appreciated in a lot of ways. Though it was never officially said to him, Horio was smart enough to know that there were a lot of people who were annoyed by his mere presence, and the thought of ending it then and there had fitted across his mind more times during his life than was healthy.

**10. In the end, he stuck with life.**

Just to spite them all, for everything they ever did to him.


	13. Katou Kachiroh

**Katou Kachiroh**

**1. He had started playing tennis at a young age, but had never considered playing it seriously until junior high school.**

His father had played tennis in school, and though he had never taken it up as a very serious passion in life he stayed connected to it through some way or another. Teaching Kachiroh to swing and hit during the sweltering hot summers of his younger years had been a good way to keep the small boy entertained. Though Kachiroh had mostly dropped it by the time he had entered school the fame the junior high school he was going to had for tennis had piqued his interesting enough to revive his enthusiasm in the sport.

**2. He became instant friends with Mizuno Katsuo.**

They had met in their final year of elementary school when Katsuo had transferred in after moving. It had been the middle of the year, not to mention the final one of an already small school, and most of the students hadn't bothered even talking to the other boy. Kachiroh, though, was a bit shy but also very determined and he made a promise to himself that he would talk to the other boy – if only to test. The result had been a friendship that had hit off right away, leading to more sleepovers and secret sharing than normal eleven year old boys did.

**3. They stayed friends throughout their entire lives.**

It wasn't surprising, a friendship that had just _clicked_ like that at first but also managed to maintain despite their differences. Though they'd gone through a few rocky months during their second year of high school once they had reconciled there was no doubt that they would always keep in touch. They both went to different Universities, because they both majored in different things, but they called each other at least once a week – usually more – and exchanged emails and text messages more than was healthy. Even with course work and their own respective relationships they made time to hang out at least once every two weeks, and though they drifted a bit in their later years their families stayed close and their children closer.

**4. The one and only time he had _actually_ gotten beaten up it was to protect a girl.**

It had been a stupid, rash move on his part, but Kachiroh had an internal chivalrous streak a kilometer and a half wide. There was just something so _wrong_ about hurting a girl, in his opinion, and while he didn't think anyone merited the physical pain seeing a small, thirteen year old backed up in the corner by three _much_ larger guys – well, he _had_ to intervene, regardless of what was sensible. He had ended up with two missing teeth, a black eye, three broken fingers, multiple bruises along his legs and stomach, and a half-crushed foot but watching the small girl scurry away had been enough for him to bear the pain. And the recovery.

**5. His mother wasn't dead, but he told everyone she was anyway.**

It was easier than explaining her absence in his life as the result of the advanced stages of early-onset dementia. Sure, he felt a bit bad getting those softened, upset looks from those who he told the thinly constructed lie to, and the time Kikumaru-senpai had burst into tears had made him feel guilty the rest of the day, but by the time he was in his last year of elementary school she had absolutely no idea who he even _was_. While not physically, she was dead enough mentally for Kachiroh not to feel _too_ guilty when he said it, and though it made the sting a little bit harder when she actually passed away in his first year of high school it had ultimately been for the better.

**6. He had a scary fan club.**

Not at first, or anything, but by his last year of junior high school when he managed to maintain a consistent spot on the regulars as a doubles player with Katsuo and, if needed, a singles player, Kachiroh had – what he considered to be – a weirdly large fan base. Valentine's was overwhelming, and the thought and requirement of not only keeping track of everyone from Valentine's but also repaying them all on White Day was terrifying. He'd once accidentally turned a corner before school and had been half-mauled by a mob of screeching girls whom he had just barely managed to escape. Though he had brushed off his senpai's complaints of _their_ fan clubs when he had been younger, by the time he had gotten his own he knew _entirely_ what they meant.

**7. He didn't know what he loved about history, he just _did_.**

He knew a lot of people hated math because it was a 'you-get-it-or-you-don't' subject, and a number of people weren't in favor of English either. But, more often than not, if you asked somewhat what subject they hated learning about the most – regardless of whether the coursework was light – they would reply that it was history. Kachiroh, on the other hand, was absolutely fascinated by the subject, couldn't learn enough. He knew it was a bit odd, but tales of long ago – of the struggles of people, _real _people but in different time periods – were so interesting to him, especially when they were so alike but went through so many different things.

**8. He and Katsuo had nearly beaten the Golden Pair. Sort of.**

Their first year of high school, Kikumaru-senpai and Oishi-senpai's third. The score had been 6-4, yeah, but the winning game had been close and the disadvantage wide enough that the thought of the two of them winning wasn't quite as ludicrous as some made it out to be. Though they never actually did it – both pairs split and went on with their lives before they could truly play an even match – that long, drawn-out match from the beginning of practice to late one afternoon as the sun had nearly set remained forever vivid in Kachiroh's mind, regardless of whether they had _officially_ won. And, later, when Kachiroh had over heard the older pair discussing just how close they had been to going into a tie break and how it had been sheer _luck_ that Eiji had stumbled and ended up closer to the ball rather than further – well, it made the memory all the sweeter.

**9. The death of his only son before he got to know him had been a hard blow.**

He and his wife already had two lovely baby girls, four years and eighteen months respectively, but the thought of a son was something that had made Kachiroh more excited than he would ever admit. When the sex had been confirmed as male he had nearly (_nearly_) whooped with joy.

Standing in the delivery room, waiting anxiously with a grin on his face only to hear _nothing_ – not even the faintest of cries – coming from his supposed to be newest child…

**10. He hated being an only child.**

Whenever he brought up the fact that he was an only child people had one of two reactions: either they looked at him sympathetically wondering how he managed or they stared in jealousy and starting ranting about how much they hated their own siblings. While Kachiroh didn't appreciate the first reaction, it was more towards how he felt, because while, sure, it was wonderful to have his own room and his own things entirely to himself with no small, screaming children around the loneliness caused by separation from his own age was enough to make him willingly give up his space and things. If only it could happen.


	14. Mizuno Katsuo

**Mizuno Katsuo.**

**1. He moved twelve times by the age of ten.**

His shortest stay in one place before the final settlement was a little under two months; the longest was a bit over a year and a half. During those first ten years of life he lived everywhere from the highest places in Hokkaido to the lowest provinces in Kyushu and Okinawa. He met people of different dialects and different experiences, even spent time living next door to a new, foreign family who barely spoke any Japanese and who had a son his age, and though it had been a nuisance to always move at the time Katsuo later realized he treasured a lot of those memories.

**2. His father was in the military.**

The Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force, if you wanted to be specific, and he had been since right before Katsuo was born. Katsuo never knew why – never asked. But it was what it was, and though it later turned out to be an unfortunate fact that left Katsuo bitter for years, he never resented his father for it.

**3. He was the first in his circle of friends to get a girlfriend. **

Which, he realized, shouldn't have been surprising. Kachiroh was a bit too shy to approach people, let alone girls most of the time, and Horio didn't have the self-esteem to even try. His other friends – good though less connected – were either too socially awkward or too wrapped up in their studies to notice, and though it had been the beginning of his second year of high school when it had happened the look of shock that passed across everyone's faces made him flush red in both embarrassment and pride.

**4. He was a movie fanatic.**

And a closet movie fanatic at that. He adored movies, of all shapes and sizes, but unless somebody brought a particular film up in conversation Katsuo made sure never to talk about it. He was well aware of social boundaries, the least socially awkward of his friends, and while he had a thriving passion for all types of films – horror, animated, adventure, romance, comedy, sci-fi, and more – Katsuo kept this to himself. Unless you saw his bedroom, saw the bookshelf filled movie after movie after movie instead of the usual books, or got into a serious discussion with him about film you would have no idea of his obsession. And he liked it that way.

**5. He hated being one of the oldest in his year.**

There were years when his birthday actually _fell_ on the first day of the new school year, and it was just an entirely unpleasant experience. Not only was getting homework on your birthday after spending the previous two weeks brain dead just cruel and unusual punishment, but when teacher's found out he was one of the oldest they always seemed to expect more of him. Of course, Katsuo delivered – he wasn't a bad student, and he was in no way going to let the opinions of his teachers bring him too down – but always being expected to know the answer was more than a tad irritating on more than one occasion.

**6. He almost lost his mother after his father's death.**

She had been all right at first, functional at least, but as the days turned into weeks turned into months she began fading. She spent more and more days locked in her room, remaining in bed and never coming out. The day she had her first hallucinations was the day he finally understood some, just a tiny portion, of what Kachiroh felt his whole life. When she finally came back to them, under heavy medication, she was permanently different and though Katsuo knew neither of his young siblings could tell, the more hollowed look in her eyes followed Katsuo his entire life.

**7. He essentially raised his two younger siblings.**

His sister Utami, who was six years younger than him, and his brother Seiki, who was nine years younger than him. His father was absent a lot of Katsuo's early life, though he didn't blame him and knew he was doing what he had to for his family, but that left Katsuo as the only older male around. Though his mother was wonderful, she always was a bit airy, and it was Katsuo's job from the moment Seiki was born to make sure all of the chores were done and all of the tasks completed. Despite the fact that it should have, his father's death never affected him in this particular area, and that was a bitter-sweet fact of life that always lingered in the back of his mind.

**8. He couldn't stand cats.**

And the fact that they owned one only added to his dislike. Sure, they were cute and all, but they would claw up your bedpost without a second thought and ruin your brand new leather school shoes the second you turned away. Yes, they were soft, but they shed _everywhere_ and at least dogs didn't feel the need to _sleep_ on all of your just-washed, just-pressed school clothes. And while dogs could get out of hand barking sometimes, cats were always – _always_ – more needy more often; they meowed whenever they wanted something, pathetic and high-pitched like a disgruntled infant, and ran across the bed to wake you up even if it was an ungodly early hour.

**9. Every October third he visited the grave. **

He slipped off during that day, whether in the early morning or the late night, and just talked. He wasn't entirely sure if his father could hear him – he had never been overly religious – but he figured it couldn't hurt, and when the pain of the loss was still fresh in him he _knew_ it was a helpful experience.

**10. He had settled in an office job to give his kids what he hadn't had.**

A father. Though it wasn't an enjoyable job, Katsuo held his nine to five office position without too much complaint. Sure, his butt was sore at the end of the day, his wrists hurt from typing, and as time went on his shirts became less and less pressed every day as his caffeine tolerance became higher and higher, but seeing the faces of his children light up as he walked through the door every night was worth every unpleasant experience.


	15. Ryuuzaki Sakuno

_(In response to the anon. review from 'Marie' - I'm not sure why Echizen's doesn't include mention of his adult life. Perhaps I had more to talk about in different time periods; perhaps I hadn't considered going that far into their lives yet. It _was _the first chapter, after all, though I'm a bit curious myself as to why I did it that way. Regardless, your comment has affected me and, Sakuno-chan at least, doesn't go past high school. Interesting...)_

**Ryuuzaki Sakuno**

**1. She had always wanted to dance ballet.**

Call it a childish whim, call it craving to peer pressure because all of the other girls in elementary school did it, but there was a strong part of Sakuno that had always wanted to. She had gotten the offer, once, too, but as it turned out she was absolutely atrocious and though the desire stayed for years to come Sakuno gave up the notion almost instantly.

**2. She was well aware of how odd people though she and Tomo were as friends.**

And Sakuno was quite aware of the odd pair they must have made when they hung out. Tomo-chan was, by nature, controlling and loud and a bit overbearing at times, whereas Sakuno was more quiet and passive. This came out, even in public, as Tomo-chan half dragged her to buy clothes or see a new movie or scope out guys at the mall. But when they were all alone, door locked as the clock struck two and the credits whatever chick flick they had finished watching rolling by, Tomo-chan listened and Sakuno talked and suddenly, _suddenly_, they didn't seem quite so odd of a pair.

**3. She adored children. **

Part of the reason being an only child killed her. Sakuno had such a fondness for children that most people, if they knew it, would have raised both eyebrows in surprise. Sure, people liked children, but Sakuno liked them _all of the time_. Even when they were sticky or crying or whining, and while she wasn't the biggest fan when they were stinky their little giggles and their bright, shining faces made every bump along the way, every scrape and bruise she needed to kiss and every monster in the closet she needed to scare off worth it.

**4. She was jealous of Tomo-chan for having brothers.**

Sakuno knew how petty it was, but the fact remained that she liked children but was an only child. Tomo-chan, on the other hand, had two absolutely adorable young brothers whom she didn't appreciate at all. Sakuno understood Tomo-chan's point of view, and understood her own perspective was in the minority, but it didn't decrease the feelings of want at all. Then again, people always wanted most what they couldn't have, and so though Sakuno was almost _desperate_ for siblings she made up for it by surrounding herself with friends and making the best of an otherwise bleak situation.

**5. She played the piano because her grandmother had never been able to.**

Admittedly, Sakuno wasn't really a musical person, and had no real talent in the area. Despite this, upon coming to live with her grandmother Sakuno had found the piano sitting in her living room fascinating. She'd asked her grandmother to play once but the old woman had shook her head and frowned, internalized, before admitting she had no idea why she kept the damn instrument there because it had never done anything but spite her. Though Sakuno had kept a straight face at the time, she giggled about it later and immediately set to work learning it. The result was fluency in both the language of music and the art of piano, at least to some degree above mediocre, but the time she graduated high school.

**6. She took up tennis, finally, because of Kikumaru-senpai, **_**not**_** Ryoma-kun.**

Sakuno had always meant to do it, but her grandmother's pressuring had made her a bit reluctant. While she was sure it was a fun sport, had always enjoyed watching it, there was a large part of Sakuno that feared failure, and she knew that if she was as useless at tennis as she was at most sports she wouldn't be able to face her grandmother. When she finally entered junior high, though, she meat not only Ryoma-kun and a whole gaggle of new friends her age, but she also met the players – students, children – her grandmother talked about with that competitive, caring gleam in her eye and talked to one Kikumaru Eiji in particular. Before he even introduced himself she knew who he was from all of the stories her grandmother told, and even though everyone else had been pressuring her it had been Kikumaru-senpai who had taken the first step in her _actually_ joining and slipped a club application into her bag one day.

**7. She liked Tomo-chan because the other girl actually bothered to talk to her.**

Other people smiled and waved and sometimes said a customary "hello" or "goodbye" in the hall, but Tomo-chan had been the first person to ever confirm that her opinion _mattered._ It had been something silly, too, an assigned group of students collaborating on a project, but before they had made their decision on what the project topic was going to be Tomo-chan had turned to her and asked, quite forcefully, if she was all right with the decision. Sakuno had shrugged and said it didn't really matter, which was true, and though Tomo-chan had let it go for the most part, that moment shared between the two of them marked a new chapter in Sakuno's book of life, one titled – in bold – Osakada Tomoka and on that included more than a few public speaking roles. In her mind, at least.

**8. She wished they hadn't drifted apart.**

Looking back later in life, Sakuno supposed it was bound to happen. Tomo-chan had always been a free spirit, flitting from activity to activity every other week and juggling more than should have been humanely possible. She came at life with the force of a thousand dinosaur-killing Tezuka Zones, and between junior high and high school had more than twenty boyfriends. Though Sakuno disliked that it had happened, their objectives in life were different, and filling in the last words on the pages of their relationship had been difficult Sakuno understood more than most that it had to be done. But that didn't mean she liked it.

**9. She kept her hair long as a rebellion.**

Sakuno was a quite person by nature, but that didn't mean she was _always_ passive. The braids had traveled with her through elementary school, and though her grandmother had suggested cutting them and styling her hair as a fresh start for junior high Sakuno had politely declined. She was well aware that they were a good four inches longer than the school dress code permitted, and by her third year of junior high had been asked to cut them more times than she could count, but she never did – at least, not until _she_ decided she wanted to during summer break of her first year of high school. It was a small rebellion, sure, but it was _her_ rebellion, and that was what mattered.

**10. She didn't regret losing her parents.**

Sure, she missed them. She was always going to miss them, and she _knew_ she was always going to miss them because suddenly losing the two most important figures in your life, in the blink of an eye, was a terrible, traumatic experience. But she never, ever regretted it, because regret implied that she hated what had happened after and, on the contrary, she loved it. She loved the relationship she had with her grandmother, loved the friends she made, loved the experiences she had, and though it had taken more than a few drastic pitfalls to get there Sakuno never regretted what her life ended up being.


	16. Osakada Tomoka

_(Trigger warnings for domestic abuse, rape, and abortion. I ask you all to understand that some topics expressed in this chapter are not to be taken lightly, and to respect this fact. Furthermore, the beliefs of the characters are not explicitly related to those of the original author or myself; please remember this is a work of fiction. Thank you.)_

**Osakada Tomoka**

**1. She was jealous of Sakuno.**

The girl was pretty, with gorgeous eyes and wonderfully manageable hair paired with naturally flawless skin. She had lost her parents young, true, but she had a wonderful grandmother as a support system who, though harsh, Tomoka knew was every bit as great a person as Sakuno said. And, more than anything else, the younger girl always managed to keep her positive outlook on life, something Tomoka absolutely loathed her for on more than one occasion.

**2. She hated her step-father no matter how hard she tried not to.**

He was a good man, she knew, and he did provide for her family. He was better than the scumbag her real father was, and he worked a respectable nine to five job that paid well and kept food on the table and diamonds in her mother's ears. He even tried to bond with her by taking her out to fancy restaurants and buying her nice things. In the end, though, he never believed her, always blamed her, and never cared about her any more than he cared about the other items to be checked off on his daily agenda, and Tomoka couldn't accept that.

**3. Her younger brothers were annoying but, in the end, they were still hers. **

Biologically related and everything. Sure, Tomoka hated having to take care of them a lot of the time – it meant she had little to no social life, not that she would have had one anyway, and they stole all sorts of things from her from time to actual physical articles of clothing and jewelry. But when the day was done and they were both tucked in, sleeping peacefully, Tomoka could look over them and smile – they were _her_ brothers, had the same parents she had, and it was enough to get her through the next day.

**4. She did care what people though of her, regardless of how she acted.**

Tomoka was well aware of how she was perceived socially, and she was also well aware how aloof she could appear to be about public opinion. But the truth was, underneath it all, she really _did_ care whether people liked her or whether they hated her guts. She _did_ care whether or not the popular girls were starting rumors, and she did care whether or not she was perceived as a total slut or as a butch lesbian – only two of the things she knew she had been called. No matter how much she hated it, there were a good number of nights during her school days that Tomoka cried herself to sleep over the stupid, silly opinions of classmates, and though she looked back on the times later for what they were – silly – they remained some of the worst throughout her life.

**5. Her self-esteem had been officially shattered by her first boyfriend.**

He'd come into her life at a crucial time, her first year of high school, when everything and then some seemed to be changing. He had lured her in slowly, and he had been nice at first but then there were the days he wouldn't call and the days where he would only call to make sure she was home, alone, with no one else. His words and tone were violent, and his fists hit even harder than his sharp, icy eyes. He used her, she had no choice but to follow, and when he finally left her it was more than her body that was breaking and bleeding and bruised: it was her pride, and her entire mental well being.

**6. A single red rose daily from her second boyfriend had brought it back.**

She had accepted his offer far more quickly than she should have, but she was desperate and afraid and lost with no where to go and no one to turn to. He made he feel special, and he said nice things to her, and even though this scared her because _he_ had done that boy number two… was accepting. He went just as slow as she liked, at just the pace she wanted, and when the first rose had shown up in her bedroom window she had smiled slightly. The second had been a kind gesture, the third a bit testy, but the fourth and onward only managed to strengthen the bond between them and restore what little self-esteem possible.

**7. She'd been raped.**

During her second year of high school at a party some random chick in her class had invited her to. She didn't like anyone there and didn't even know the person hosting, but there had been enough booze to get half the teenaged population of Japan drunk and she set her cup down without a second thought. When she woke the next morning in an unfamiliar ally not even near the house she'd been at, thighs bruise and body aching, she wasn't sure which was more terrifying: the fact that it had happened, or the fact that she didn't remember anything about it.

**8. She had an abortion.**

And she never regretted it, though she knew a fair few people who would have if they had known about the situation in the first place. It was a baby she didn't want, though, a baby she couldn't care for, and a baby she didn't even recall conceiving with a person she didn't know who had taken something valuable from her by force – something she couldn't get back. Though she would wonder years later what could have been, when her future finally settled down – when _she_ was ready – Tomoka didn't regret doing it. She only regretted having to in the first place.

**9. After the party in high school she never took another drink.**

Not even at dinner with her husband years later, not even at their wedding, not even at a fancy New Year's Eve party despite the glistening champagne fountain. She had been tempted to on more than one occasion – in particular when she had just started seeing her future husband and he had bought her a rich, lovely, aged bottle of wine that smelled of all sorts of exquisite fruits – but there was a little block in her mind that never let her put the glass to her lips, no matter how small the amount of alcohol in it contained. It was difficult to deal with sometimes, but reliving what she had gone through as a teenager was not an option, and though it was stupid by the time she was old enough to realize it was possible to have self-control it had become such habit it would have been silly to stop.

**10. She had gone into company management. **

Despite the experiences in her youth, Tomoka made as good a recovery as any and went into management as soon as possible. It was messy work, sometimes, with all of the paper work but underneath having great penmanship it was about being bossy and conniving, both making and calling bluffs, and if there were a few things Tomoka was good at it was those.


	17. Ryuuzaki Sumire

**Ryuuzaki Sumire**

**1. She was not at all musically inclined. **

She had tried to play many an instrument during her youth, but none had worked out. As a last resort, her parents had signed her up for piano tutoring, hoping that she wouldn't be a _complete_ embarrassment to the family. The result had been one dastardly recital, a couple thousand yen in piano repairs, and the acceptance of the fact that Ryuuzaki Sumire didn't have a musical bone in her body.

**2. She had the potential to go pro in tennis.**

And had been offered the opportunity. Despite this, Sumire had refused; from a young age she had known that her passions laid in teaching, and though it sounded great, she recognized the odds of her truly getting somewhere were slim. Instead, she chose to teach; and while it was often said that those who couldn't do, taught, Sumire ignored everyone who made the remark in her direction.

**3. They weren't just students – they were **_**people**_**.**

This was a concept it seemed all of her colleagues failed to grasp. Sumire understood just how frustrating students could be at times, especially those who held absolutely no interest for the subject one taught, but underneath they were still people who had their own lives to go about and their own problems to worry about. Yes, they were teenagers – they exaggerated, they made mountains out of less-than-mole-hills, and they whined at the slightest thing. But underneath that exterior they were people just like she was and just like all of her colleagues were, and the fact that other teachers could say such horrible, nasty things about students who weren't the brightest but were trying their hardest was something that never failed to enrage her.

**4. They weren't just **_**athletes **_**– they were **_**her**_** athletes, **_**her**_** people. **

All of the kids she coached in tennis over the years held a special place in her heart, regardless of whether of not they were the best or the worst. She supposed it came with being a teacher – having thirty kids instead of just your own biological ones – but the bond she felt towards all of them every year she taught was the same one they all felt towards each other. It was one of commitment and camaraderie and, in her case, a bit of maternal instinct mixed in that caused every student coached to leave an impression on her that never left.

**5. Losing her son and her daughter-in-law had been one of the hardest things she'd ever gone through.**

The phone call during school had been brushed off, because Sumire was never one to answer a call during class; but the urgent note from the office had been another thing. The doctor's calm, soothing voice informing her of the accident had torn her to pieces, the decisive statement that both her son and her daughter-in-law had been killed on impact ripping her heart metaphorically in half. A piercing cry of anguish leaked from her lips that day and echoed down the hall. No one ever mentioned it.

**6. Getting his daughter had made it easier to bear. **

The girl was timid, barely nine when everything had happened, but she was a shining star amidst one of the bleakest times in Sumire's life. She scuttled around doing what normal nine year olds did, though with a bit less glamour than some of the girls Sumire had met over her years in education, and at the end of the day, she managed to turn out perfect – with an optimistic outlook on life – regardless of her situation. It was Sakuno's hope that led her through some of her most troubling times, and being able to see her son and her daughter-in-law in her granddaughter made all the difference in the world.

**7. Echizen Nanjiroh was a brat. He was also an inspiration.**

He showed up every day, half of the time late, and often lazed around. He talked back, gave her sass, and twirled his racket like a regular hot shot. The only difference was that he _was_ a hotshot, and he _did_ have the talent and ability to get somewhere. Sure, he was annoying at the best of times and downright aggravating at the worst, but when they ever actually got to competitions he took the courts by storm and raised morals so high that even Ryoma's fateful match against Yukimura years later hadn't compared. In the end, though he was annoying and devilish, he was a student she never regretted working with.

**8. Teaching Echizen Ryoma had been just the same. **

He was just as cocky, at least when he initially joined: being surrounded by high-level players, in particularly Tezuka and Fuji, had toned that down in the younger boy somewhat. But underneath it all, Ryoma held the same cockiness Nanjiroh had, had the same determination, and had the same irritable streak of running ridiculously late – almost to the point of disqualification on several occasions. No matter his snide remarks or rash judgments of other players both at Seishun Gakuen and on other teams, though, working with Ryoma for the three years she had was an honor and she never forgot it.

**9. Age never stopped her. **

Sumire was well aware of what everyone said about her in her later years. Some worried and fretted; others laughed and scoffed, saying someone as old as she was had to be delusional by then. Just as her comments to her headstrong students often fell on deaf ears, Sumire completely ignored them – in fact, she threw her head back and laughed, before tackling whatever project was next on her list with all of the force in the world. As far as she was concerned, age wasn't a factor: the only thing that did was whether you had the guts to step up to the plate and face the challenge. Sumire did.

**10. She went out knowing she had accomplished everything she wanted to. **

She didn't die early by any means, though Sumire was well aware there were probably a few extra years she could have tacked on to her life by taking the last ones of it easier. That would have been no fun, though, or that was what she had told her doctors. After all, what was the point of living if you weren't making a difference? That was her take on it, anyway, and though she had always been advised against it, Sumire went out of her way to do what she wanted to do up until the day she died – and had a funeral that over three hundred former students attended.


	18. Echizen Nanjiroh

_(Question: would you guys like to see a chapter for Rinko, too, and/or Nanako? Ryoga was also in consideration, but seeing as Konomi states Echizen's an only child I'm not sure whether he should exist or not. Tell me your thoughts on who you want next! If not them, then Fudomine here we come!)_

**Echizen Nanjiroh**

**1. He was a dog person.**

Not that he hated cats, per se, except for the fact that he… well, really, really didn't like cats. Dogs were much better, in his opinion. They were loyal, they could fight people off, and they weren't as ridiculously _useless_ as cats. Aside from what people said, Nanjiroh was sure dogs were smarter too, because while they could sit around and drool all day at least they recognized that toes were _toes_ most of the time, not chew toys, and they didn't go around attempting to gnaw off your extremities in order to have fun.

**2. He knew the moment he picked up a tennis racket that it was **_**right**_**. **

Before he even hit a ball, before he even _swung_ the darned thing, Nanjiroh knew. He felt the weight of the racket in his hand – not ridiculously heavy, but not obscenely light – and it was like he entered an entirely different realm. There was nothing but him and the tennis racket and the _concept_ of the game, and before he even got the chance to try the sport out Nanjiroh was dead-set on the fact that _this_ was what he was destined to do in life.

**3. Getting Rinko to agree to the first date was like getting a cat in a bath.**

And it took every one of his tricks out of the bag, until he was nearly sweating, for Rinko to crack what Nanjiroh thought was a smile. When she finally did break, though, she laughed – a bright, clear sound that was so much different than the laugh of any other women though, as far as composition of sound waves went, it couldn't truly have been. Though she had been hard to get to, even reserved after that one moment, Nanjiroh never gave up on her, so set, and he was sure that was the reason she stuck around and dealt with him until their relationship really hit it off.

**4. His perversity was for show only.**

Which was part of the reason Rinko let him get away with it. Sure, he would "read" less than acceptable magazines, often of girls of barely legal ages, but in the end he was a loyal husband. He never even considered cheating, and the idea that it would actually happen was so far from his mind that when his niece had, albeit kindly, broached it one evening after dinner when Rinko was out he had been nearly shocked senseless.

**5. He let Ryoma choose his own sport.**

Sure, he nudged him towards tennis because that was what _he_ had played and it was a damn good game. Besides, with skills like his, his son would probably be just as talented, especially with all of the practice he got. But if Ryoma had come home one day and said "I'm done" or that he was trying out for the basketball team or the football team or, heck, even the swim team Nanjiroh would have gone right ahead and let him.

**6. He loved Los Angeles.**

The sun, the sand, the sea – three "s"s that combated the only other word – "tennis" – that was really in Nanjiroh's vocabulary. He enjoyed his home of Japan, of course, but there was absolutely nothing better than spending day after day in the city of angels in his opinion. He had come on accident but planned on staying, a brand new life out of a partial mistake.

**7. He gave it all up for his son. **

When it became absolutely clear to Nanjiroh that Ryoma wanted to pursue tennis more seriously, and when the boy had finally leveled off to a stage where he needed outside influence, he packed their bags and off they went. Rinko had looked at him like he was insane at first, but reluctantly she gave in – she found another job at a law firm no problem, and they were off before any of them knew it. Ryoma was ecstatic as an emotion-hiding twelve year old could be, a telltale sign that Nanjiroh was doing the right thing. And when his son came home after the first real day of tennis practice and talked about his "bizarre senpai-taichi" and the "crazy old woman" who was coaching him (the only person Nanjiroh would ever trust with _his_ son) the last of his doubts were pushed to the side and forgotten.

**8. He was immature when it didn't matter.**

There were more than a few times in his life, even later on, when Nanjiroh was careless. He cracked jokes, made inappropriate comments, looked at pornographic magazines, and got in fights with kids the same age as his son about topics ridiculously irrelevant. There had even been the years of sneaking around in not-so-clever disguises in order to watch Ryoma play tennis and, hopefully, not let Ryoma know that he was there to watch him play tennis. And though his immature moments were not at all few and far between, they were never major enough to truly be negative.

**9. He was responsible when it did matter.**

Despite all of his childish actions and phases, Nanjiroh was just as responsible as a grown adult was supposed to be – perhaps more, in some cases. Sure, he could be impulsive (deciding "out of the blue" as Rinko liked to say that he wanted his family to move back to Japan simply so his son could be under the tutelage of his old tennis coach), but Nanjiroh also thought things through. He made plans and he put serious research and consideration into decisions. It was one of the reasons he _had_ insisted they move back to Japan; it was one of the reasons he had advised his son against training professionally at a young age; and it was one of the reasons he spent days upon days making sure everything for his son's wedding, years later, was perfect regardless of the fact that that was the woman's job.

**10. Tennis was just a game.**

It was played for fun and for health and nothing more, though so many people took is more seriously. Even in his peak years Nanjiroh understood this concept, understood there was more too life – a wife and a son and a cat, perhaps – than hitting the that little neon ball back and forth across a large, rectangular court. In the end, tennis was just a game and there were more important things out there; though that didn't stop it from being a game Nanjiroh would play over and over again.


	19. Echizen Takeuchi Rinko

_(After much debating, I decided to do Rinko. Unless something major comes to me in a revelation, Nanako will not be done. Due to PairPuri, Ryoga doesn't really exist so I'm not counting him. As such, next chapter will be Tachibana Kippei.)_

**Echizen Takeuchi Rinko**

**1. She had spunk.**

Her father had been a harsh man, angry in many respects though his ethnicity didn't make for it. Her mother was helpless, always shrinking away in hopes of tomorrow being a better day. But Rinko – she had a spirit that would not be curbed, a tendency to fire off whatever thoughts were on her mind in anger regardless of whether she should have. It had gotten her into trouble as a child more times than was healthy, and years later she saw the same snark shine through in her only son, but she always saw it as a value and not a detraction.

**2. Her first love was in kindergarten.**

He was a cute boy with pale skin and electric blue eyes, so different from her own. He was wiry, even more so than a normal five year old, and managed to shoot questions and queries off to their teacher two-plus miles a minute. It had been a playground romance full of pretty yet allergenic dandelions and reserving the swing for each other at recess, but it was a pleasant batch of memories nonetheless.

**3. She had six brothers and sisters.**

In total, of course: she was fourth, smack dab in between a brother and a sister. There were two sisters before her elder brother, then her baby sister and two youngest, twin, brothers. Despite the vast amount of children the house wasn't always in the throes of complete chaos, and though the sounds of four different instruments could often be made out over the yelling at said practice-ers of instruments because someone was studying for a Japanese school exam or writing a paper, that was the highest the decibel level got.

**4. She loved law because it proved she could go somewhere in life.**

Her family wasn't huge, but they were larger than normal for a family of Asian decent of their time period. She had landed in the middle, four of seven total, never the best at anything. She wasn't the brightest, nor the prettiest, nor the kindness, nor the most proper. She wasn't the daughter who married first, nor was she the child who best knew how to handle money. She was almost entirely ordinary in the categories her parents were paying attention to, which is why she had decided to come out of nowhere and surprise them all – she was going to law school. Her parents were wary at first, and her siblings had laughed at her, but when she came through with both a degree and a job at a time where many of her family was lacking one or the other, it was all Rinko chuckling secretly behind their backs.

**5. She found Nanjiroh absolutely appalling at first.**

He hit on anything that moved, and half the time she wondered if that wasn't just constricted to things that walked on two legs. He cracked unfunny, disgusting jokes and acted as if he was on top of the world. Sure, in some respects he was, but when she first met him, Nanjiroh was just another wise guy off the street offering nothing more interesting than the last one. She hadn't even expected to take a second glance.

**6. It was his dedication that got her. **

He had latched on to her, almost creepily so, and she had tried to shake him off at first. But he followed her down the block, then down the next, and the next, and the next, until they arrived at her apartment. She had tried shutting the door on him, but he'd slammed his foot in it. When she'd threatened to call security Nanjiroh had shrugged, looked mildly sheepish, and backed off – but not without the promise that he would show up the next day. True to his word, he did, and Rinko ignored him every day. This went on for two weeks until finally, reluctantly, she gave in.

Her only regret was that she hadn't given in sooner.

**7. She could not stand dairy products. **

There was something entirely disgusting about drinking the milk – something produced for one's babies – of another species, chilled, through adulthood. There was something even more disgusting about the living bacteria cultures in yogurt. The colloid properties of milk – the fact that she couldn't see through it, but that it was murky – just added to her apprehension and disgust, a trait she seemed to be the only one to possess. It was an opinion she later passed to Ryoma, and while she knew it wasn't entirely healthy to exclude an entire food group she never lectured him about it. Finishing his vegetables, though, was an entirely different story.

**8. She'd almost refused them moving to Japan.**

She was, in truth, more Americanized than her family ever liked. The immigrated when she was very young, too young for her to remember, and growing up in an atmosphere so different than that of her parents did affect her. There was a part of her that she _knew_ was more wild, more daring, more carefree _because_ of America and not just because of her, and she was hesitant to leave the country behind – even if Nanjiroh promised it wouldn't be permanent.

**9. She gave in for Ryoma. **

She knew he was spoiled, but he _was_ her only child, her precious baby. Rinko tried not to be too lenient with him, and if he had done something wrong she would punish him accordingly, but that didn't curb her indulging, mother-hen influences. The way Ryoma's face had lit up at the prospect of living in Japan had been all it had truly taken to get her to give in.

**10. She would never understand tennis men.**

They fell in love with a court – a court where they stood all alone, with no one by their side to help them. They fell in love with a ball – smaller than many things, yet bigger than the world. They fell in love with the rush – like drugs, but legal Nanjiroh had once joked as he tried to explain the appeal to her. They fell in love with tennis over everything, even if they didn't want to, and Rinko would never fully understand what it was all about.


End file.
